PNP: Lapses but not a complete failure

MANILA, Philippines - Authorities involved in police operations during the Aug. 23 hostage crisis in Rizal Park admitted yesterday there were lapses in the handling of the incident even as they claimed that it was “not a complete failure.”

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico Puno and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa faced the incident investigation and review committee (IIRC) for clarificatory questioning and bared procedural flaws in terms of crowd control, handling of media and lapses in judgment during the crucial moments in the botched rescue operation.

Both officials admitted that there were repeated opportunities for snipers to shoot the hijacker during the day-long standoff, which was aired around the world on live television.

“There were a lot of chances where we could (have taken) him down,” Puno, who has supervision over the police force, said.

For much of the day the negotiating team believed that senior inspector Rolando Mendoza was cooperative, borne out by his decision to free about a third of the 25 hostages as he bargained for authorities to reopen the extortion case against him.

“By all indications he would release all of them,” Puno said, even confessing that he has no background in hostage crisis management and that the incident involving Hong Kong nationals was treated as a “local crisis” and was left to the city officials to resolve.

Asked if the authorities had failed in assessing Mendoza’s readiness to kill the hostages, Puno told the inquiry: “Most probably, that is the case.”

Verzosa told the inquiry he agreed with the decision not to kill Mendoza early on.

“There was no outward indication that he will hurt the hostages,” he said. “During the time that he was exposed it was foreseen that a peaceful resolution was at hand.”

As head of Security and Peace and Order of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Puno had the responsibility to “see to it that the needs or requirements of the negotiator and ground commander are met” in hostage incidents.

However, he claimed that under the guidelines, the ground commander and the negotiator have the “full responsibility” in handling such a local crisis.

“I am not capable of handling hostage negotiations. I am not trained to handle hostage-taking,” he told the panel chaired by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Lim: Why me?

With this admission, Puno said he left the handling of the crisis in the hands of local officials led by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who in turn, denied responsibility and instead pointed to Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, former director of the Manila Police District and ground commander of police operations during the incident.

“The only one responsible for everything that happened is the ground commander,” Lim told the panel, adding that the decision of Magtibay to order the assault after learning that the hostages inside the bus were already killed by Mendoza did not even need his approval.

“I did not have a say in the operations. That is why I am wondering why I am being blamed for this,” he lamented.

Lim, a former chief of Manila police himself, explained that there are rules in the handling of a hostage incident. He said only the negotiator is allowed to talk to the hostage-taker and the ground commander takes control of the police operations.

Puno, on the other hand, said that while involvement of foreigners as hostages made the incident “very significant,” he had to rely on the assessment of the city officials that there was no need to call on national agencies to act.

“The hostage (incident) took place in Manila and the hostage-taker, a former Manila policeman, was very cooperative,” he explained.

Puno said he was just told that the primary plan of Mayor Lim’s group was to just tire out Mendoza. “The general idea there was to save lives, even that of the hostage-taker. If we can save the life of even the hostage-taker, then we will be very successful,” he said.

He said the public affairs group of the critical incident management task group of the local police should be partly liable for failure to keep media people in their designated area.

He said the media were ordered to move 800 meters away from the bus but remained near the area. He believes the media should also be blamed for the bungled handling of the hostage crisis.

Investigators earlier said they believe that live TV report of the arrest of Mendoza’s brother in the area aggravated the situation and was one of the reasons that triggered the alleged killing of the hostages by the dismissed policeman.

Puno likewise revealed that the outcome of the incident would not have been as bloody if only Mendoza saw a reinstatement order from the National Police Commission.

He said Supt. Orlando Yebra, the chief negotiator, was all set to give the letter to the hostage taker, but the latter was already out of reach when called on the phone.

It has been reported that Mendoza was talking to several persons from Radio Mindanao Network shortly before he supposedly started shooting the hostages.

Verzosa, for his part, admitted to the IIRC that he saw lapses in police management of the crowd during the incident.

The PNP chief said there were many civilians in the command center that caused direct interference on the “decision-making process of the operatives.”

“We have not perfected crowd control,” he lamented, referring to the case of a bystander who was wounded during the exchange of fire between Mendoza and police operatives.

PNP chief: Not a total failure

Verzosa also confessed that the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit that handled the incident has “some incapacities pertaining to some high-end equipment.”

He said the Special Action Force of the PNP is the best-trained unit to handle a hostage crisis.

Still, the country’s top police official believed that the response of authorities to the hostage crisis was partly successful.

“I don’t call that incident as total failure. The progress of the hostage taking in the first nine hours went smoothly. There was no sign of violence on the part of the hostage-taker and in fact he was very cooperative and even released a substantial number of hostages. The negotiator and the ground commander had successfully convinced Mendoza to release (hostages),” he told the panel.

Verzosa said he believes Mendoza became violent only after reading a letter or communication from the Office of the Ombudsman that did not directly answer his demand to be reinstated to the police service.

He also stressed that the TV footage showing Mendoza’s brother Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza being restricted could have aggravated the mental state of the hostage-taker.

Verzosa, who flew to Cagayan de Oro four hours into the crisis to attend two seminars, said the driver’s statement that all of the hostages were “already dead” led the police to end negotiations and start the assault.

“The exact words of the driver after his escape from the tourist bus were ‘Pinatay na lahat, pinatay lahat’ (Everyone was killed),” he recalled, insisting that his visit to the south was important because he had to meet officials there on insurgency and terrorism issues.

The PNP chief, however, gave assurance that they are investigating on their own to determine the lapses or culpability of the policemen involved in the incident.

Both Verzosa and Puno also admitted that the police failed to control the crowd, while television and radio stations continued to broadcast the crisis.

This allowed Mendoza to monitor what was going on around him via a television on board the bus, which police failed to disable.

Verzosa also admitted that the unit best-equipped to handle the situation, the police Special Action Force, was in the area but sat out the assault until the last five to 10 minutes.

He said he had not wanted to overrule the decision of the Manila police chief not to use the Special Action Force initially.

Other members of the IIRC – Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Kapisanan ng mga Broadkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) president Herman Basbano, lawyer Roan Libarios of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and Teresita Ang-See of the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) – took turns in questioning the officials who were invited as resource persons.

The panel is tasked to determine what went wrong in the handling of the hostage incident that ended with Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists dead after a widely criticized police assault and to come up with recommendations on possible filing of charges and also to address institutional problems to prevent a similar incident in the future.

The inquiry, headed by the Justice secretary, is scheduled to finish its hearings on Monday.

Puno, President Aquino’s point man during the hostage crisis, said he would take responsibility for the failed rescue.

However, Mr. Aquino, speaking to reporters elsewhere, said that he, as Philippine president, must bear the responsibility.